Westside Digest

Culver City

The council allocated $5,500 for a staff member to travel to Norfolk, Va., to bring back a collection of motion picture memorabilia.

The miniature wood recreations of early movie sets were carved by former Culver City resident Robert Gragg. Gragg, 88, lives in Norfolk and suggested the donation. Culver City has been called "The Heart of Screenland."

Syd Kronenthal, director of the Department of Human Services, said the city has missed other opportunities to preserve its historic connection with the film industry. "If this goes, like everything else, you lose it," Kronenthal said. "This is a town that was weaned on the motion picture industry. I think it is criminal that we haven't captured more of the past of the movie industry here."